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Othrys Arc: The Cold Hearted Cardinal
Along with Chase, Miriam ran up to the second floor of the tower. "William should be imprisoned on this floor. Tell me Chase, are you here to free your comrade, or because Aether ordered us to come here." Chase let out an exasperated sigh. "Is this really the time to be asking such questions? I'm here because I want to free my comrade and because Aether ordered us here. If I were here just to rescue William I would have ditched you all and done it myself, but if I were here because Aether told me to be here, I wouldn't have left his side when a giant fucking dragon decided to take him on!" He retorted sharply. He was on edge, that much was easy to discern. Any sounds caused him to jump, and the air around him was heavy. "Now shut up so I can tell if any enemies are going to try and stop us." Miriam stopped running. "Come on out Cardinal! Your magical power is hard to disguise. If you were fighting at this moment I'm sure I could've sensed it a mile away." She summoned her staff, and got in a battle stance. Sand rose from the ground as it collected into a solid figure. A fair, blonde haired women stood with a smirk on her face as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Funny. I couldn't seem to tell that there were two mages coming my way, I mistook you for pesky insects. So I suppose I should thank you for making yourself known, I was getting bored." Rhea said, opening up her palm to reveal two spinning balls of sand. "Why such tense expressions though? Maybe you should slit your wrists, it will lower your blood pressure." Her eyes flare with disgust, as the sand balls in her hands divide into eight projectiles roughly the size of quarters. "Now are you going to save me the trouble, and let me kill you now; laying you to rest like the worthless bag of bones you are? Or am I going to need to spend an additional five seconds laughing at you as you writhe in pain from your futile attempt to live?" Miriam's usual cheery and loving personality washed away as she faced her foe. Her beige aura surrounded her, matching Rhea's own power output. "Stay on guard Chase, this one is stronger than the rest. Memory-Make: Plasma Burst!" She pointed her staff at Rhea and fired a burst of plasma hot enough to turn sand into glass. Chase scoffs as the woman's appearance, growing impatient with her constant blabbering. "Woman, if I hadn't heard that same speech about 3 times in the last day, I might be a little more threatened," He says, rolling his eyes. In fact, Chase is more off put at the fact that Miriam, who had been nonchalantly asking questions only a moment before, just told him to stay on guard. "Who would've guessed that that one of the strongest members would be protecting the only leverage they have on us?" He asks rhetorically though he gets down into a lower stance as the air around him grows denser, enacting Sky Dragon's Cushion around himself at about half it's normal strength. Rhea quickly constructed a Stone Wall, to block the incoming plasma attack. The thickness and grounding abilities of the stone helped protect her from the electric heat of the Plasma Burst. "Your tenacity intrigues me boy. Perhaps I misjudge you... seems like you have the intelligence of rat, compared to the insect of a partner you have. Shame I'll have to bury you both... Tabernas Storm!" The balls of sand that were circling in her hands are throw out across the field and begin to divide until a thick sand cloud blankets the area. Rhea can barely been seen clenching her fist, but when she does, hundreds of dense sand spears form above the two Dragon Gunfire mages and being raining down on them. "Memory-Make: Blue Dome!" A dome of blue energy formed around Miriam and Chase, blocking all of the attacks coming towards Miriam. "Your constant blabbering is insulting. Especially since you don't have the bark to match your bite. Memory-Make: Ball of Hot Lightning!" A sphere of lightning was thrown from the end of her staff, surrounded by red heat magic. The heat it was emanating was enough to melt through the stone wall of Rhea's, planning to catch her by surprise with this tactic. Chase was really close to smacking Miriam, just because of her own hypocrisy. There was also the fact that, hey, Chase existed, and was fully capable of attacking as well, but why even bother trying to get help when they were facing one of the most powerful enemies in this country? Watching as she defended and struck, Chase decided that he probably wasn't going to get to do much if he didn't assert himself. However, he didn't want to be hit with a ball of lightning or fire, so his natural affinity for close combat would have to wait until Miriam realized that that was where his strength lied, or until she got knocked out, possibly by Chase himself out of pure frustration. "Sky Dragon's Feathers," He enchanted, several dozen feather-like bouts of wind gathering together, barely distinguishable but for a faint blue glow around them. He sent them towards Rhea, and should they land, they would adhere to her skin, and begin to drain her of oxygen. Rhea quickly brings up a dome of sand to surround her, reflecting that of the same technique used by Miriam.The hot lightning quickly struck the sand and turned it to glass. The feathers began to come towards her, but was met by the clear structure that now surrounded her, and adhered to it. Due to its transparency, the duo can see Rhea stick her hands on the ground and mouth the words, "Sechura Blades." Suddenly, at a rapid pace, spikes of sand begin shooting out of the ground, shattering the glass dome and making two paths towards Miriam and Chase. Miriam moved her staff across, sending out another wave of plasma that would turn her attack to glass again. "Chase, I know that hand to hand combat is your forte, but I feel as though our battle styles wouldn't mix well in this situation. And she's too strong of you to take on by yourself. Not to mention there's the still the primary objective of saving William. I know what I'm about to ask of you will irritate you, but can you go save William?" William was a Cavern Dragon Slayer, and as such, his presence would turn the tide of the battle. That was it. The straw that broke the camel's back. "Who died and made you king?!" He demanded, whirling on Miriam. "You think she's gonna let me waltz on through and just go break my comrade out of jail? Who the hell allowed you to become S-Class?" Chase rants. "Certainly after watching me-- you know what, no, watching anybody-- fight, you've got some sort of spell that doesn't incinerate everything it its path?" The air around Chase continuously picked up speed the more he carried on, at the end equating to roughly 60 miles an hour. He pointed his hand towards the dome, then clenches his fist, which causes the air pressure within it to raise exponentially. "You act as though I can't fight if it doesn't involve fists." He spits out, glaring harshly at Miriam. Miriam's aura suddenly bursted around her, it was like Aether's the day Chase had fought him. Her normally calm and motherly appearance was replaced by a visage of utterly frightening proportions, she didn't even look directly at him, only glancing, but with a look that struck fear into the hearts of mortal men. "Must you always be this angry Chase?" Her voice boomed throughout the room. "Usually my personality seems to calm my guild members, but it seems that won't work for you. You must know that you can't defeat this woman by yourself, yet you even thought about knocking me out so you could take her on your own. I wasn't just sending you out to slaughter, you act like I don't have a plan. I became S-Class, not because my son is the guild master but because of my strength, and intelligence." Well, if Chase was angry before, he had now become absolutely enraged, veins pulsing at his forehead. Chase met her head on, his own aura bursting to match, if not, exceed hers, causing sand, rubble, and glass shards to fly up into the air. "Why the fuck can't I be angry when I've been ignored by fucking everybody up until this point, and when I finally stick up for my self, I get yelled at for it?! For fuck's sake woman, all I wanted was to work with you, and you tried to send me off! You fucking tell me to be calm in the midst of fight again and I swear to god I'll make sure you never take another breath!" In a spur of the moment thing, Chase decided he could no longer contain his rage to just his vocals, and aimed a quick punch to Miriam's nose. Nothing major, the most damage she would receive would be a bloody nose, though Chase hoped that it would get his point across; he wasn't going to listen to her if she was going to belittle him. Miriam caught Chase's fist. She sighed. "It seems as though everything I say simply causes you to be aggravated further. Fine, I'll go get William, his magic would be valuable in this fight. Don't die before I get back." Miriam's aura disappeared as she let go of Chase's hand, and began to nonchalantly walk over to the prison, unbeknownst to anyone present, that she was covered in a personal version to the Blue Shield. The sandstorm seemed to take on a new edge as the burst of Chase's wind cause the storm to pick up all shards of glass made by Miriam's lightning's contact with the sand. Rhea stands with a devious grin as small clusters of stone and sand begin to form and hover in the air beside her, numbering that into the 400's as she spoke. "Seems as if my presence here is not needed! For the women who claims to have drank from the fountain of knowledge, it looks like you just gargled. You are about as sharp as a beach ball." She spits out with venom dripping from her diction. She glaces curiously at the boy who's aura is flaring a pale navy color. Thinking to herself, The boy though, I like his tenacity. He would actually fit well into the ranks of Othrys; perhaps scale much higher than that imbecile Gundahar. Could be a fun pawn to play should those two mages simply destroy one another. Saves me some trouble of getting my hands dirty. She looks onward, humored by the 'teamwork' these mages all seem to talk about so much. "No wonder you all are so weak..." She scoffs under her breath. "Are you serious?!" Chase screamed, throwing his arms up in defeat. "Why the fuck am I even here if the almighty Miriam can just take on every goddamned enemy she faces!? Not only that but simultaneously rescue her friends! Haha, it's as though I have no value!" A distorted and deranged smile overcomes his face, and Chase begins to laugh to himself. "Are you seeing this? I'm not crazy, right? She just walked out on me!" He asks Rhea, shaking his head, still laughing hysterically. "Is this really the treatment I deserve after the hell I've endured just to get here? There's no way I've worked as hard as I have just so I could stand next to some bitch who's hardly worked half as hard I have. Man, it must be my fate to be ignored by everyone." With Miriam now out of the way, however, Chase certainly wasn't going to waste all of his time whining. "Sky Dragon's Purge!" She shouted, and the air around him was forced outwards, quickly getting rid of any debris around him. "O strengthen of arm to cleave the heavens! Arms!" He enchants, his body glowing navy and his magical and physical capacities rising marginally. "Sky Dragon's Silhouette," he adds, and the air around him compresses, forming into a giant dragon of air around him. He bursts forward head first, in front of Rhea in a second, the giant wind dragon cutting a path through the sand storm. The dragon was reduced in size because of it, though was still considerably large. A bit surprised by the sudden burst of speed from the frustrated Mage, the punch connects with Rhea as her body turns to sand and dissipates to become part of the sandstorm. She quickly reforms about 10 feet back from the dragons punc, and smiles. "Senai Bullets." The clusters of stone and sand formed earlier during the dragon gunfire dispute fire off. Around 150 of the sandstone bullets fire off with blinding speed towards the older women, but the rest of the 400 converge on Chase, who now stands at the epicenter of where Rhea was creating them. Miriam continued walking as her Blue Shield expanded, protecting her from Rhea's attack, then immediately shrunk back to it's invisible state. Chase extends his hands out to his sides, and the air around him pressurizes greatly, enacting Sky Dragon's Cushion. He hadn't reacted in time, however, and roughly two dozen of the bullets hit him full force in various parts of his body though the remaining bullets were stopped fully by the dense pocket of air, slowing down and then collapsing moments after entering the 'cushion'. Afterwards, the wind pressure is released, replicating a much weaker version of Sky Dragon's Purge, and the sand bullets were pushed several yards away from him. "Physical abilities rise," He enchants, a bright green aura exploding around him that lasted a few seconds before subsiding, drastically increasing his physical capabilities. He jumps towards Rhea, high-velocity winds gathering around his right arm as he does so. Once he's within a foot, he swings his arm down, the winds separating into three 'claws' aimed towards her right shoulder., thus completing Sky Dragon's Claw. Rhea moves to dodge, but the mages increased abilities was something she didn't take into account, as the claws graze her shoulder and leave a superficial laceration. "You lowly maggot! How dare you cut me!" Rhea exclaims as she takes a leap back. Her mouth contorts to a snarls as she creates a magic circle in front of her. "Kalahari Golem!" Her voice beckons out a large, 30 ft sandstone golem that builds on top of the existing sandstorm. It lets out a piercing roar as Rhea commands, "Go take care of that vapid women over there; I want to handle this airbag..." The golem nods and makes it way over to slam a fist down onto Miriam. Rhea on the other hand shoots forth a stream of sand that begins to wrap around Chase's body. As it circles him it forms a sort of cocoon of hardened sand. Seeing that this might not work, Rhea activates her Horus Eye, as her right iris changes to reflect the new magic abilities she has access too. Focusing back on the cocoon, Rhea outstretches her fist and clenches it to constrict the sand around the wind mage and crush the bones within his body. "Suna Hitsugi!" Miriam raised her staff above her before the golem could make contact. She fired a blast of magic from it, blowing off the golem's hand. She then tapped it three more times in the torso, yielding similar results. "As I expected, she wouldn't just let anyone leave," she thought. "She wants to crush us." Miriam ran around the golem and behind Rhea, propelling herself forward with her magical energy, and aimed to strike her with her staff, simultaneously discharging her magical energy from it. As the sand cocoon rages around him, Chase enacts Sky Dragon's Sword Horn, which causes the air to pressurize around him. After this, his own ethernano in the attack blocks off Rhea's control over the sand, the sand beginning to fall slowly away from his body and onto the ground between the small space of his clothes and the air. "Sky Dragon's Walk," he enchants, and he begins to bound up into the air, drawing in his breath as he does. Once he gets directly above Rhea, he flips in the air so that his head faces the ground and releases the air he's gathered, an intense whirlwind being shot towards the woman. However, this air current had been superheated, thus forming Sky Dragon's Scorching Roar. It wasn't hot enough to turn her sand to glass though it could cause large blisters to form upon contact, and it was certainly strong enough to pierce a hole through her sand storm, if for a short time. Rhea ducks down, avoiding the staff from her backside, as she creates a magic circle on the ground. "Bayuda Quicksand!" A quicksand pit of 20 feet wide is created with Rhea at the epicenter; with Miriam obviously in range as she went in for close combat. The quicksand become one with Rhea's sand body as she dissappeared; however she was not quick enough to avoid the scorching winds raining down on her. A scream could be heard as she dissappears, but is quickly masked by the golem's roar, as the remainder of it's body turns to smack down Chase and take him into the depths of the quicksand with him. Rhea reforms a few feet away and thinks, It seems I have reached my limit of my sand body, I can't keep using it or my body won't be able to reform afterwards. Seems I will have to take the offensive now... Rhea outstretches her hand aimed at the duo near the quicksand pit, she creates a large dome of stone that is several meters thick. Within its walls jagged spikes protrude, and with a squeeze of her hand, the walls begin to enclose. "Let's see how you handle this you rats, Aianmeiden!" "Memory-Make: Fists of Ferocity!" Miriam chanted as several fists of earth, covered in light flew from her body, slamming into the stone dome at high speeds, boring into it until it shattered. She then forced her staff into the quicksand below, and discharged plasma into it, causing it to heat up, and turn into glass. She stepped out of the former quicksand and stood parallel with Rhea. "Is that the best you can do, I thought that a Cardinal would have a higher caliber of Magic than this," she said with with a smile. "Don't hurt yourself too much, I'm sure coming up with that sentence was a struggle for you. Good thing you have that wig to hid the scar from your lobotomy; you still need to work on the drooling bit though." Rhea teases as she uses her finger to point at the corners of Miriam's mouth. However in one of her hands there was a rather new item, a staff with an eagle on top of it; it was the staff of Horus. "You should never insult a mage of Othrys." She says with stone cold calmness as she raises the staff. While the two mages were trapped in the dome, Rhea had created 6 magic circles above the twos location. "Telluric Barrage!" She shouts as the magic circles come alive and send off an unavoidable blast of light consisting of six different elemental magics: fire, stone, water, wind, light, and shadow magic. As soon as the spell is cast 2 of the hitome in Rhea's Horus Eye deactivate. Chase quickly evades the golem's smackdown, still hovering in the air. When the dome is constructed, it narrowly covers his head, and he floats down several feet. As he expected, spikes began to protrude from the surface, and he positioned himself so he was in between two of them. Intense winds gather around his fist, a magic circle appearing in front of it as well. He moves forward like he's going to punch the wall, however, he stops short, releasing the attack. A huge fist erupts from the magic circle and blasts a hole through the dome, more of it crumbling away. He goes through the hole he's made. "Ile Vernier," He enchants, encompassing himself in a navy aura allowing his speed to triple, on top of his earlier spell. Chase was beginning to feel the loss of magic power from using so many supportive spells though he supposes he's never been one to think ahead or do anything below his full capacity. Chase bursts forward, Sky Dragon's Walk and his boosted speed allowing him to surpass the speed of sound and get behind Rhea in a near instant. He quickly turns, shouting "Sky Dragon's Oblivion!" and performing a roundhouse kick towards the back of her neck. His voice wasn't projected until several moment's after because of his speed. As Rhea's spell was unleashed upon her, Miriam's Blue Shield once again activated, holding off the attack for some time, but it began to crack from the pressure of the spells. Her magic aura flared up as she began chanting her next spell. "Memory-Make: Song of Ice and Fire!" With the combined defense that the new pillar of ice and fire provided for her, coming directly from her body, she managed to equalize the output from Rhea's attack, and defend herself from taking physical damage, although her Blue Shield had been destroyed. The kick makes contact with her face, sending her falling down to the ground. Rhea quickly recovers and grabs the standing leg of Chase and sand begins streaming out of her body. The sand begins to crawl up the leg as Rhea hisses "Saharra's Thirst!" The spell effectively leeches out the moisture within it's target, causing hallucinogenic effects and dehydration."No wonder you are so fast, your head must be full of hot air! Let's see how you do without water, you inbred ass hat!" As the water is drained from his body, Chase does the only thing he thinks is right in this situation. "Sky Dragon's Vacuum!" He enchants, a large sphere encompassing both him and Rhea, wherein the oxygen is completely released. However, Chase has no qualms with this, being able to control the level of oxygen within his own body to help him last for thirty minutes though he'd be running on fumes at that point. He places his hands above his head, not saying the normal Sky Dragon's Jaw to preserve his oxygen, then swings downward, bringing down a wide and forceful wind onto Rhea, hopefully getting her to let go. "Raise," He enchants, which wards off the effect of Saharra's Thirst, though not completely. Her spell was probably at half power after it, though his own defense would only last for a minute at best. His physical enhancements disappeared, which caused his speed to suffer, and his endurance and strength to lower as well. Miriam ran next to Rhea once again. She imbibed her staff with magical energy, and aimed to slam it into the side of Rhea's head. As Rhea is choking for air, the staff rams through her head. But something odd happens...Rhea's head begins to turn to sand. The rest of her body follows suit and crumbles withing the vacuum. The two mages hear a snide insult from behind them, "Calling you stupid would be an insult to idiots; I sure hope you're sterile because running into a vacuum is the most unintelligent thing you could have done, god forbid you pass that doltish behavior on to a child!" Rhea sneers at the women. "You fools can't even tell the difference between a clone and an original! Ha!" Her words hold strong, but labored breathing could be seen to the keen eye, showing that the previous maneuvers had taken a lot out of her. "Now burn like the pathetic twigs you are. Inferno's Rage!" Rhea condenses stray magical energy in the area into a large sphere, rotating the magic at very high speeds. Thrusting her palms forward, she releases the magic energy as whirling blast. This attack is very useful, as the area has been saturated with excess energy from the previous attacks. It is a recycling of the magical energy, and the magic is rotated at such high speeds it generates a deathly heat wave, as well as a piercing screeching sound. This spells gets it's name from both the high heat and sound; people have thought that it sounds like the souls crying out from the flames of hell. Rhea smiles on as the inferno closes in on the two. Miriam pointed her staff at the incoming inferno, and casted her spell, Memory-Make: Wind of the Far North, at it, giving it extra strength in order to disperse the flames. Chase strengthened the barrier around them, keeping a constant flow of magic energy going into it to sustain it. This eliminated the possibility that the flames would break through because there was no oxygen to sustain them, though the deathly heat and screeching sound were just as much of a problem, especially for someone with as sensitive hearing as himself. Miriam's spell was kept inside the barrier due to his efforts, which helped tremendously to cool the area, and it even disrupted the sound waves a bit, which Chase had to admit he was thankful for. After the spell subsided, Chase had lost a significant amount of his magic energy simply keeping the barrier up. The area was still uncomfortably hot, and his ears were still ringing, though he assumed it would pass as time went on. He takes in a huge breath, allowing it to slow down immensely. When Chase released the attack, it resulted in an extremely frigid tornado, roughly forty feet in diameter and traveling at seventy miles an hour, cooling down the area and hopefully getting a solid hit on Rhea. Rhea was a bit exhausted from the use of her Horus Eye, something she was still ill trained in, wasn't able to must up a spell with enough speed to block the tornado. The vicious winds cause lacerations to appear all over her body, but the Cardinal manages to hold her ground standing. Once the wind subsided, Rhea's body could be seen quivering from the amount of energy she had used up; sensing that she didn't have much power left, she decided to put all her magic into one last attack. "It seems my body is finally giving out on me. I guess it only seems fair since I've had to looks at people who's faces looked like they caught on fire and someone tried to put it out with a fork..." Rhea sighs with fake interest. "But maybe I'll keep this picture of your face in my mind the next time I feel the need to throw up. I'm sure my language is too advanced for your reptilian brains to understand, so I guess I will leave you with this parting gift, since actions speak louder than words. Heavenly Wings! Sinai Bullets! Golem Tears!" All around the two Dragon Gunfire mages thousands of light magic feathers, sand magic bullets, and earth magic shards surround them. With a wave of Rhea's hand the shrapnel converge on the mages with piercing power to penetrate the greatest of defenses. Rhea's body is seen collapsing out of the corner of their eyes, as her magic is completely empty now. Miriam planted her staff into the ground. "Memory-Make: Blue Shield!" She cried as her shield extended from her body, but the attacks manned to penetrate it after only a few seconds. Then, a cascade of Blue Shields extend out from her body, recovering faster an faster as each layer was destroyed. When the final spell had been blocked, Miriam took her staff out of the ground, and collapsed to her knees. "It seems I overdid it a little," panted Miriam. Chase, after seeing Miriam couldn't --or perhaps didn't want to-- protect him, he enacted Sky Dragon's Cushion approximately two feet in front of himself, making the air as dense as he possibly could. To say the young man was ill-prepared for the barrage of attacks was an understatement, however, defense had never been his strongest suit, nor something he thought of often. To provide some sort of extra measure of defense, he enchanted himself with Dues Corona by reciting the enchantment, his body glowing navy as it took effect. When the attacks came full force at him, the cushion managed to slow them down to about half their original speed, which was still considerably fast, and his enchantment did little more than slightly dull the pain. Bruises and welts were no doubt all over his body, marking him with red, purple, and blue for what would probably be a few weeks. His mouth was shut tight to ensure he didn't whimper, whine, or possibly go off on Miriam for being less useful than a wet napkin the entire battle. To make matters worse, Chase felt like he was running on fumes, magically and physically, despite his enhanced capabilities as a Sky mage. Still he stood, whether from spite of the other females around him, or pure stubbornness. Nonetheless, the young man spat in Rhea's general direction, then carried on towards the top of the tower, which held William, who he planned on breaking from prison, and then leaving this godforsaken place once and for all. His battles had been too long, the first too boring, and the second much too frustrating. After reaching the building's highest floor, he found William, and using what was most likely the remainder of his physical and magical strength, he kicked the bars out with Sky Dragon's Claw, not much caring if the bars came flying at William at breakneck speeds because he was just a bit too pissed about certain teammates and enemies. After that, he just turned around and began walking back towards the exit of the place, hoping beyond hope that his guildmates had completed their tasks and they would finally be able to leave Othrys. If not, after he gained back his strength, he was going to raze the entire city to the ground. "," said William, as Miriam released him from his restraints. He got to his feet, rubbing his wrists. "Aether really is a bad teacher," said William telepathically to Chase. "You've been with this guild for a year now, but you still haven't learned to control your emotions. I've offered to take you off his hands and train you myself, I was the one who taught him to control his emotions after all, but he said that it would be like he's giving up on you, and you'd just get even angrier. And after seeing that show you put on, I'd have to agree with him." Chase turned and glared at William. "Don't What took you guys so long, me, because I've worked my ass off to save yours, and I'd like some fucking gratitude, thank you very much," He spits out. "Also, since you were kidnapped, you have no right to complain, since you couldn't defend your own damn self against them." As William begins talking to him telepathically, his anger just continues to build up. For better or for worse, he spoke in the telepathic communication, his voice as loud as one could be over an invisible connection.'' "And why the hell should I need to control them? It doesn't make me a better mage at all! If anything, anger is much better fuel for emotional casting than your stupid pacifistic tendencies! Maybe the reason I'm not learning anything or changing my ways is because I don't need to! I don't understand why its such a big deal anyways, not everyone can forget about the wrongs of the world and look at the light, and I don't understand why looking at some delusional glow is better than seeing this world for what it really is; dark, evil, and full of misfortune! It's why we're here right now, to fix it! And guess what'll happen as soon as we get home? Some other crisis will occur, and we'll be chasing our tails until we die! So yeah, maybe I'm a tad pissed about protecting and rescuing people who don't care, but I'm here, being a good little soldier boy, so I don't fucking understand why the hell my emotions have any part in that!"'' William sighed. "You have no sense of humor," said William, addressing Chase's reaction towards his previous statement. "Are you aware that the ones that captured me were the two strongest mages of this nation? From what I can tell you both could barely handle Rhea." William went back to speaking in the telepathic link. "Truly Chase, you see this world as nothing but evil and cruel. Has there not been one ounce of light in your life. And you're wrong Chase. Rage isn't the only emotion that gives people strength. True strength doesn't come from those who are willing to punch anything that makes them angry, true strength doesn't even come from one's willingness to be a pacifist. If I was a pacifist I wouldn't have taken this job in the first place. True strength comes from the point between rage and compassion. Anger causes you to lose control of yourself. Pacifism weakens one's will and power. This point I speak of gives one complete control over every aspect of your own power. Aether's has found this point, and so have I. And the one who has been torturing me for the past few days has also reached this point." Chase rolled his eyes. "Wow, I'm sorry, maybe I should've just left you to rot and die in the cell then? Because apparently, the opponent down below was such a fucking piece of cake that the great William Harrison could handle once he got out of his cell. Oh wait," he says, chuckling unhumorously. "That's right, you would've gotten fucking nowhere hadn't I come to save your ass because Miriam has been just about as good as a partner as a wet blanket! Stop complaining about my rescue and show me respect when its due instead of getting on some high ass pedestal about being unable to defeat an opponent. Whether I die by the hands of an enemy or because I tripped and fell and stabbed myself with a pair of scissors is irrelevant, because I'm dead either way! So, if I can defeat the obstacle placed in my way, and you can't, that makes you lousy ass scum in everyone's eyes who doesn't know the story. And guess how many people know. Go on, guess" he says, leaving a small timeframe. "That's right, fucking nobody because nobody cares enough to ask you about your life story, nor was anybody there." He says resolutely, practically a step away from punching something. Probably William. As William begins talking telepathically, the dam that separates his rage from spilling over just wears thinner and thinner. "Yeah, I don't see this world as anything other than evil and cruel, because, maybe, ''just maybe, I haven't lived in the lap of luxury my whole life like you! It's possible that I've never had a mother, or a father, or any family who's ever cared for me up until this point in my life because somehow nobody's managed to love me. And yeah, maybe it's because I'm a fuck up who's ruined more than a few good chances at living a good life for no other reason than my own frustration and confusion, but it's not like I can change it anymore! So maybe that makes me a little hesitant to trust this new family because I've been stepped all over my whole life! God, it's like you've never known anything but companionship and happiness! And you know what, I don't particularly care for the way you've decided that my emotions are invalid as soon as they don't conform to your beliefs. I don't understand why I can't feel angry, or raged, or pissed when I've been dragged across countries to save your ass, and the only thing I've gotten in return is some half-assed-- no, I won't even give you that! I got no thank you or anything for it! I've fought some fucking awful people, alright, and I got paired up with a woman who doesn't know the difference between her right and left hand, so my patience has been a little more than tested these past few days. So leave me the fuck alone about it!"'' "You and I are more alike than you think Chase," said William. "You say I was born in the lap of luxury, when in fact I was born in hell. Sure I have been a member of Dragon Gunfire since I was a child, but you seem to forget our guild's history. Or perhaps, Aether never told you it in the first place. I killed for the first time when I was eight. Egged on by my father, and his comrades. Him and my teachers beat me when I failed. In the old Dragon Gunfire, weakness wasn't tolerated. So when Aether created his new regime, I was the first one to sign up. But during my time training under my father, it would've been so easy to simply give in to my rage, embrace my Draconic heritage. But I decided, the first day they beat me, that I wouldn't. Why was that? I knew I would get more satisfaction from defying them, and finding my own path of power. One not filled with rage. And when the Dragon Gunfire Civil War began, my power was greater than that of any of the opposing Dragon Slayers. Now you say that you've been dragged across countries in order to save my sorry ass, but if there's one thing I know about Aether is that he wouldn't have made anyone come here. You weren't ordered, you were asked. And you came because you wanted to help, not necessarily me, because as I can tell from your words you hate me, but your guild. And you also say that you're hesitant to trust your new family. But a year has gone by, and you still haven't been mistreated. Not by Aether, not by Seraph, Theia, and certainly not Miriam. You don't seem to comprehend it, Miriam has had the utmost confidence in your power from the beginning. She knew you'd at least be able to get past Rhea, and after showing that much power like you did, she knew you'd at least be able to hold her off until she got back with me. She even knew that the angrier you got, the better you'd fight, although she had hoped you'd focus that all on Rhea. But you just couldn't, you had to at least get one hit in on her. It doesn't matter who they are or what they say or do, you get angry at the most trivial of matters. As a matter of fact, I'm sure that you're about to throw a punch at me, proving my point." "Do not compare me to the likes of you ever again," he growls, no longer caring for keeping their conversation private. "You think being physically abused has got anything on what I've had to endure!? God, my parents hated me so much they abandoned me in a box on the side of the road like some pet! At least, your parents kept you, though I can't imagine why." He starts, eyes blazing. "I've been beaten, I've been called worthless, I've been told I'll never amount to anything more than a worthless kid in the system who will never find love. And you wanna know why they said that? I'll tell you why. Because they were petty and foolish and couldn't see past my appearances, William. Appearances. They didn't care jack shit about what was inside, or how strong I was, they couldn't see passed the fact that my eyes were red and my hair was black. They called me a demon, a monstrosity. And let me tell you, it wasn't whispered. They spat it in my face like it was my fault! And, if they managed to get passed my looks, they'd call me a dunce, a retard, stupid, just because I was a kid who never received more than a few days worth of education because I've never lived in a place long enough to be enrolled and actually go. Do you know what that's like William? Huh, do you know what its like to be betrayed by the people who are supposed to be your brothers and sister? Who could've helped me, but instead chose to belittle me. Not once, twice, or even three times. No, it was every. Single. Time. And, oh, how it stung like a fresh wound each time. Like a knife in the heart, something I'm sure you understand since you've seen every struggle and has known every pain." He stops, catching his breath which was coming faster than he'd ever felt it, even in the midst of battle. "And finally, finally, when I found a good home. Free of rude siblings and judgemental parents. Just a loving environment where I was cared for and kept safe. Guess what? I ruined. I ruined it because I was scared of something so safe and secure, so different than what I considered normal. I killed their pride and joy, left their livelihood for dead and then I was sent away. And the cycle repeated itself. Never in one place for more than a few weeks, looked at only when necessary because I was just that terrible. Everybody knew my name by that point. Tragedy Boy. Demon Child. Unholy Beast. You name it, that title was mine. And gradually it just became too much to look beyond. There was no longer some light at the end of the tunnel, it was a just some hellish flame waiting to consume me. An illusion of hope that burned me and consumed me when I reached it. And if I thought being called names hurt, this was so much worse. Damn, how I wished I could go back to the days when stupid kids called me names just because their lives sucked too." "And then some fucking psychopaths came and kidnapped me. I endured true hellish pain then, enduring countless injections, my chest being ripped open and sewn shut by some twelve-year-old kid high on his own fucking ego. And I was brainwashed to believe this was all okay. That pain was a price I had to pay to become better, stronger. If I knew I'd have ended up here, maybe I would've just let myself die instead of fighting it. I wouldn't have died happy, that's for sure, but I would be dead, and that's certainly better than being admonished by some amateur who thinks he's endured true pain when he's barely pricked his finger." Chase's throat hurts from talking so much, feels so dry that he can hardly breathe anymore. How ironic, truly that the Sky Dragon Slayer can hardly breathe when all he's done is talk. Tears sting at the back of his eyes, but he refuses to let them fall. To show this man any sort of weakness would truly be a sin, when he's done nothing but be what he's finally escaped from; judgemental and harsh. Chase's eyes bore into William's, burning with hatred, bloodlust, and pain. Pain beyond what a twenty-year-old should have ever experienced. He may have been the physically smaller and younger man between them, but in this moment, he was leagues above William. His fists were balled, shaking, however, remained at his side. There was no way in hell he would ever give William the satisfaction of being right. His voice dropped low and dangerous, dripping with venom. "Don't you dare tell me how long it takes me to get accustomed to a place. Don't you dare tell me that they haven't mistreated me, William. You have no idea what mistreatment is to me, and you have no clue how painful it is for me every day to see people talking happily while I'm left to wonder why I never had that. Because talking for me isn't as simple as saying hello. I can't even look at children without them getting the wrong idea and starting to cry. I don't think you quite understand what being a social outcast means, but I'll give you a recap just in case; it means I will never, not ever, fit in, and that's it. I'm not the missing part of the puzzle, I'm the buzzsaw that comes in and destroys the pieces you've connected. I just don't understand why I can't just use my deconstructiveness in a constructive way. I don't understand why I get all this heat for being upset about how terrible my life is, how terrible I am, and how terrible I make everything around me. I'm not Theia, I don't bring some amazing light. I'm not Melanie, I can't support you from the shadows. I'm Chase, a tornado, breaking and tearing things apart wherever I go. Not because I hate you, but because I don't understand. I don't understand how people work, and I don't understand how I work, and I don't understand why I'm broken." His breath came raggedly and in huge gasps, and his chest ached. Some unexplainable pain he knew wasn't related to his wounds. It was pulsing, repetitive, and it hurt. Hurt more than anything, and he just wanted it to go away, or to curl up into a ball, or rip open his stitches and rip out whatever was causing this pain. William smiled. "I'm happy that you opened up to me Chase. Even if that wasn't your intention. I know that I can never say I endured the hell you've endured, but everyone has a different tolerance for pain. And mine is far lower than yours. If people think that you're an outcast, I have no doubt that you are the one who can endure the pain, and prove to everyone that they're wrong." William crouched onto the ground and began eating the stone making up the complex. As he ate the scars on his body that he had received from Cronus disappeared. "I apologize for this not being the first thing I said, but you're right. Thank you for rescuing me. I'm sure everyone else should be finishing up their fights against the Cardinals by now. So, I'll meet with them in order to defeat Cronus, and end this war." He thought of incredible joy, the moments he trained with his students, and the incredible love he felt towards them. His aura erupted around him, and his skin became covered in scales. Category:Aaniimee Category:Lady Komainu